The Crypt of Hearts has been overrun, the daedric realm of the Abyss threatens Skyrim and the whole of Tamriel. Only one person can stop it - hopefully you!
Into the Abyss adds a new megadungeon to the Skyrim / High Rock border with places and lore inspired by other TES titles like Online plus Blades.
What's the different between this and the Special Edition?
Some bosses have been tweaked and other NPCs have updated outfits and gear compared to the Special Edition version of the mod. This version makes use of Creation Club content which made sense to add. If you have said Creation Club content or the Anniversary Upgrade I would recommend this version of the mod instead as it has some lore friendly crossovers such as the Spell Knight Armor and makes use of more Blades stuff which is where the Abyss actually comes from.
Features
New unique levels - the Abyss is not like other dungeons. Not only is progression through it open to how the player wishes to proceed with no strict order of completion but due to the ever changing nature of the Abyss behind every door is a totally different dungeon. You'll be able to explore radically different locals from a Dwemer airship fleet to a mysterious hotel and even a level that surrounds you in total darkness. All accessible from skydiving through a massive hole in the ground.
More weapons, bosses and NPCs - there's hours worth of content in the Abyss from the new levels to the enemies inside them including some new bosses and and more weapons to play with. Some of the dungeons are even linked into the radiant system so generic quests may send you there.
A mystery to unravel and secrets to uncover - Morrowind style quests where the player isn't guided by the UI. There are puzzles, secret places, easter eggs and all kinds of things to find.
Q&A
How to start and what level?
I can't believe I forgot to put this in the description originally but I guess it might be because it's kind of hard to miss - you can see the Crypt from Whiterun on a clear day! The entrance is very close to Deep Folk Crossing in the Reach.
You can enter at any time but it's a high level experience where you will have to use the skills you've learned throughout Skyrim to be able to navigate it most safely. You don't actually need to know anything but knowing Become Ethereal will help a lot and Whirlwind Sprint can be useful... if you can't use either of those I'd recommend eating strange things that may paralyse you - it may even be more fun that way (In-game, not real life please!)
How long is this mod?
It's difficult to say and whilst it's not as long as Dawnguard I would like to think it's at least around as long as some of the bigger Creation Club DLCs like Forgotten Seasons or The Cause, even great mods like Forgotten City and Sirenroot, so you should at least get a few hours out of it. I would like to call this a "DLC sized mod" because it is big but I just don't want to set expectations that it's going to be as big as Dragonborn or something when it's not but it is still a big chunk of free content.
Requirements - or do I need Anniversary Edition and a new save?
This version has been specifically designed for Anniversary Edition - you will not need Anniversary Edition if you have instead purchased all the Creation Club content that has been added but otherwise it's needed for this version. If you would like to play the Special Edition version with no AE or CC requirements then it is available here. If you're confused because it looks like that version also requires AE then that's not actually the case - the Ayleid and Shivering Isle Root tilesets are both actually just part of Special Edition. Rare Curios and Saints & Sinners are both also free, I think they may even just be part of base game now. That's all you need for that version.
If you're on a version lower than 1.7 I have now uploaded a new file that should be compatible with any version of Special Edition. You will still need the required Creation Club files plus if the version is low enough you may also need the textures for the new tilesets.
You do not need a new save, this can be installed on a pre-existing one but as with pretty much any mod just be aware that it will probably work better on a new one is all. If you already installed the Special Edition version and now want to install the Anniversary one it should probably be okay but you may lose your progress in the mod.
Also as a side note, if people would rather have both versions on the same Nexus page I can look into it but with all the requirements for this one and the possible confusion over the original (I'm not sure many people even know about Rare Curios and Saints & Seducers basically being Special Edition these days) I thought it may be better to have a separate page. This way it is clear that there is both a Special Edition version and Anniversary version.
Can I play this mod if I have Legendary Edition?
There is a reduced version for Legendary Edition and it can be found here. I would only recommend it if you don't have another choice though as some parts had to be cut for it to work on LE.
Is it finished?
Yes, I mean I'll try to patch any issues that people might find but in terms of releasing it's 1.0 with a start and end.
Follower Friendly?
Yes but actually kind of no. The new places are navmeshed but your followers will probably struggle to quite literally go into the Abyss itself however they should be able to follow in the levels okay if they make it that far. As far as I'm aware this is literally just an engine limitation as this mod is doing funky stuff that the engine wasn't designed for so don't blame your in-game friends if they don't make it. They can at least walk around the hub location of the Crypt itself and will wait for you there.
Is this mod part of your Re-Cut series?
It actually started alongside my Re-Cut series as I wanted to try and do something original rather than just restoring cut content. The idea for the core Abyss loop actually came from those mods too. I had a couple of ideas I thought were really cool, like the air fleet level but I had no idea how to fit that into Skyrim. I was testing a dungeon and knocked a dead NPC out the half finished level who respawned in the middle of the room so I knocked him down again and he dropped into the level again. I realised there was like a whole mechanic here that had never really been utilised and that's how we got here. That and there's also a unique salt pile in a Riften house that is out of bounds and continuously falls through the void until it respawns and does it again. I don't know why, maybe it was to inspire me?.. Dude.
A couple of locations would have actually been included in that series but couldn't really fit in any good way that would work so I managed to retool them a bit for context here, so in a way this is related to those mods but I'm not going to market it as restoring cut content because the bits I have restored are definitely not what the original direction was for those levels - they're more like remixes.
More questions?
If you want to tell me anything, have any more questions or want some help or whatever then feel free to message me here or on Discord.
